When it rains, it pours!
First of all, thanks for the well wishes for Hippo. He's not out of the woods by any means and had to go back to the hospital today for 1-2 days of intensive care. He was still in terrible pain and not eating at all, not even liquid foods or his favorite meats. His abdomen was still distended and he wasn't responsive to much because of the pain. I called the vet and when they called back they said to give him 50 mg of generic Pepcid AC and I might have to bring him in, they'd talk with the other doctors. The pepcid made him perk up a little and I wound up taking him in.
They took x-rays and found that his stomach filled up with fluid, but the suturing to the abdomen wall was holding up because the stomach stayed put. They took another blood sample and found his electrolytes were low, he was dehydrated despite drinking water, as well as his total protein (low) and his BUN was off. He wasn't absorbing anything in his stomach because of the fluid just sitting there. So they are keeping him 1-2 nights and giving him medication through IV (since he can't have oral because nothing is absorbing or moving in his stomach and GI tract) to try and help get the fluid out and start the gut process back up again. Hopefully, this will work. I feel bad that I had to take him back since the pepcid perked him up a little, but not taking him back to the vet would have been deadly.
Just got back home. As of tonight the running tab so far is $$$$$. The hospital is amazing though and no charge for the extra exams today and they slightly discounted tonight's x-rays since he was just there less than 24 hours ago. It's a pricey clinic but they work with you and Hippo is certainly worth the debt. He's an amazing guard dog and has staved off a few break-ins. He's an amazing dog overall and is incredibly intelligent. I really, REALY hope he makes it through this. I'll be posting about a few realistic partials for auction soon to help pay the bills (canine, feline and spotted hyena). Maybe I'll do a toony head too, but I'm getting into the realism.
They took x-rays and found that his stomach filled up with fluid, but the suturing to the abdomen wall was holding up because the stomach stayed put. They took another blood sample and found his electrolytes were low, he was dehydrated despite drinking water, as well as his total protein (low) and his BUN was off. He wasn't absorbing anything in his stomach because of the fluid just sitting there. So they are keeping him 1-2 nights and giving him medication through IV (since he can't have oral because nothing is absorbing or moving in his stomach and GI tract) to try and help get the fluid out and start the gut process back up again. Hopefully, this will work. I feel bad that I had to take him back since the pepcid perked him up a little, but not taking him back to the vet would have been deadly.
Just got back home. As of tonight the running tab so far is $$$$$. The hospital is amazing though and no charge for the extra exams today and they slightly discounted tonight's x-rays since he was just there less than 24 hours ago. It's a pricey clinic but they work with you and Hippo is certainly worth the debt. He's an amazing guard dog and has staved off a few break-ins. He's an amazing dog overall and is incredibly intelligent. I really, REALY hope he makes it through this. I'll be posting about a few realistic partials for auction soon to help pay the bills (canine, feline and spotted hyena). Maybe I'll do a toony head too, but I'm getting into the realism.